Lavender's Grudge
by RaucousLaughter
Summary: After Ron and Lavender split, Hermione still has to share a room with Lavender. How will Lavender act towards her? A sequel to my story When Breaking-Up Is Easy to Do, inspired by smkffnut who thought it would be a good scenario. I do not own these characters or this world, J.K. Rowling does and I thank her!


Hermione ascended the stairs to her room with trepidation. Ginny'd offered her a place to stay, but Hermione had refused, knowing it wouldn't be a good idea for her to be out of her own bed. Making it to her own bed without enduring admonishments from Lavender Brown, however seemed an impossible task. Hermione'd stayed in the fifth years' room until Ginny'd talked herself to sleep. Hermione'd left when her red-haired friend had begun snoring, not unlike her youngest brother. Hermione had just witnessed Lavender (finally) breaking up with Ron in the common room. It was something Ron should have done ages ago, in Hermione's opinion. In face, in Hermione's opinion, they never should have gotten together in the first place. She was sure unsure why it had happened. Now Lavender was under the impression that Hermione and Ron had been alone together in the boy's dormitory doing... well, Hermione blushed to think about it. Of course, they hadn't been, but Lavender didn't know that. Lavender'd screamed at Ron with a furiousness Hermione hadn't known she had in her before retreating upstairs in a fit of tears. Then, while Ron and Hermione were alone together, the unthinkable had happened (before Ginny'd interrupted). Ron had acknowledged that something was brewing between them. She was elated, but also weary. She was simply too exhausted now to deal with such anger from her roommate. However it was quite late; With any luck, Lavender would be sound asleep.

"Here goes..." she said under her breath as she pushed open the door to her room. Silence greeted her and relief flooded Hermione. Though she was close to sleep, the ease of her entry invigorated her so much she nearly laughed out loud. But that would have been a mistake. As she neared her bed she noticed a piece of parchment folded onto her pillow. Should she dare open it? Who was it from? She peered over at the soft silhouette Lavender made in her bed, her form rising and falling with gentle breaths. Surely, if this parchment contained a message from Lavender, it was only a few spiteful words. This was the classically passive-aggressive girl Hermione was used to. She'd seen Lavender and Parvati pass notes in class numerous times, though the professors never seemed to notice, not even McGonagall or Snape. Hermione moved to open the parchment when something stopped her. _Could it be? _She thought. Would Lavender stoop so low as to curse Hermione using some sort of trap? She didn't want to find out. Well, at least not without a decent night's sleep. Hermione had to admit she was somewhat curious. But she was also dreadfully tired. She took her wand out and waving it gently at the parchment, muttered a spell to remove it from her pillow. It landed safely on her night table without any ado. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hermione changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and tied her unruly hair into a knot on top of her head to get it off her neck. When she came out of the bathroom she noticed the piece of parchment was back to resting on her bed. Hermione took her want out again, and the parchment moved once more to the night table, though Hermione noticed it moved a bit slower this time. She turned down her sheets and the note zoomed back into place atop her pillow. Hermione supposed she had no choice but to open and read it. She glanced at Lavender, hand shaking and picked up the folded parchment. As soon as she touched it, a squeal erupted in Lavender's voice. A howler! Lavender Brown had given Hermione a howler!

"I know where you've been!" shrieked the voice, and the paper turned a bright pink before exploding into tiny hearts that then proceeded to break down the middle. Lavender sat bolt upright in her bed, at the sound of her own voice. Her face twisted in anger. Hermione wanted to pinch herself, hoping this was all some horrible dream. Instead, she summoned every bit of her Gryffindor courage and stood her ground.

"And where have I been, exactly?" she folded her arms across her chest, an old defense mechanism.

"With my boyfriend! In his room! In his... _bed..."_ Lavender eeked out this last part with tears forming in her eyes.

"He isn't your boyfriend anymore," Hermione pointed out. "You broke it off, remember?"

"So, you _were _with him tonight!"

"No, I was with Ginny," Hermione said. " She wanted to tell me that she broke up with Dean." Hermione kicked herself internally. How would her friend react to know that she'd spread the news of her recent breakup to the biggest gossip in Gryffindor House. Ah, well. Ginny would understand. And the news was likely to reach far and wide in no time anyway.

"Don't lie!"

"I'm not lying. But you'll believe what you want to believe, I suppose." Hermione climbed into bed, unable to handle a full confrontation. She'd try to ignore Lavender's accusations and get some sleep. There was only so much convincing she could do to someone whose mind was already made up.

"I can't believe your nerve, Hermione Granger. I'd never have pegged you for one who'd stoop so low. First, you and Ron sneak around behind my back, and then you come back here and throw tonight's little tryst in my face!"

"There was no tryst, Lavender. I promise you. If there had been, do you really think I would have returned?" Hermione turned bright red, instantly regretting the words as they left her mouth. She wasn't doing a terribly great job of saving face. "to face you..." she added. She did not want Lavender cottoning on to the fact that what she really meant was that had she been given the opportunity to sleep in Ron's arms, she'd never want to leave.

"Ha! You thought you'd sneak back in here before morning and pull the wool over my eyes. Miss know-it-all thinks I'm too stupid to.."

"Give it a rest, Lavender." Parvati spoke and Hermione realized she'd forgotten all about her. How had she only just woken and not earlier when the howler'd been opened? Lavender looked stunned, gawking at her friend.

"Look at her," Parvati continued, gesturing towards Hermione. "Her hair is in a perfect knot, not a hair out of place. I can smell that apricot face soap she uses. It's clear to me that she's just come to bed. There's no way she's been...up to what you're suggesting..." Parvati didn't look away from Lavender as she finished. Hermione was so embarrassed, she wanted to sink into a hole and stay there for the next ten years. "pfft..." Lavender muttered, skeptically, looking Hermione up and down. Though her argument was faulty, Hermione wanted to hug Parvati and thank her profusely. Lavender seemed to buy it, which was good, since it was the truth.

"Please, go to sleep," pleaded Parvati. Lavender looked contemplative before deciding that sleeping was the reasonable thing to do.

"I've go my eye on you, Hermione..." she said, sinking into her bed. Hermione thought she heard a small sigh escape from Parvati.

"Ok," Hermione said. She had a feeling that the accusations were far from over, but at least they were over for the night, so she could get some rest. Not only did Hermione feel she needed rest after the end of a long day, but knowing that Ron's relationship with Lavender was now over, it felt more like she needed rest after an arduous battle. She knew that in fact, a very real battle, a battle hat had nothing to do with romance was yet to come. Still, a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She knew that whatever lay ahead, Ron would be by her side and that possibly they could move forward. She'd endure whatever Lavender threw her way, because it was a small price to pay, really. Hermione smiled as she drifted off to sleep.

The End


End file.
